A FROME man appeared in crown court on Tuesday (September 15) and admitted burgling a cottage where he stole bizarre list of items including a stuffed barn owl and a three feet tall African carved statue of a man.

Shaun Sheldon, aged 46, of Gipsy Lane, will be sentenced for the crime next month in Taunton Crown Court by Judge Richard Shepherd.

Sheldon, who was represented by defence barrister Tobias Collins, changed his plea to guilty, meaning a jury trial would not now be needed.

Judge Shepherd ordered that he should be remanded in custody until the sentencing hearing on Thursday, October 15.

The burglary in Shepton Mallet of a three-bedroom semi-detached stone cottage was said to have happened on either Thursday, December 19, 2024, or Sunday, February 2, 2025.

Prosecuting barrister Francesca Chaplin said a miscellany of other items of a value which was unknown were also stolen by Sheldon.

They included a deep red colour acoustic electric guitar, a 12-inch dark iron ice pick with a wooden handle, two accordions in their cases, and a standard lamp with a black tripod stand and a black metal shade.

Sheldon also took a three feet tall china vase, a child’s leather biker jacket, a taxidermy barn owl in its 12 inches by 12 inches wooden case, a wooden mantle piece clock, and a banker’s light with a brass base and green glass shade.

Also stolen were a pale grey stone with lichen garden statue of two entwined cherubs, a white kayak, a Hornby train set, multiple wooden framed images of insects, two small vintage women’s watches, and two chimeras.

The crown court is currently sitting in the North Somerset magistrates court buildings in Worle, Weston super Mare, while renovation work continues on its Shire Hall, Taunton, premises.